Tether.



Patented Sept. I2, |899.

No. 633,0l6.

A. LITTLE.

T E T H E B.

(Application filed Nov. 12, 1898.)

(No Model.)

UNITED .STATES PATENT muon.

ANDERSON LITTLE, OF SEDDON, ALABAMA TETH ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 633,016, datedSeptember 12, 1899.

Application iiled November 12. 1898. Serial No. 696,294. (No model.)

To ail whom, it may con/cern;

Be itknown that I, ANDERSON LITTLE,a citizen of the United States,residing at Seddon, in the county of St. Clair and State of Alabama,have invented a new and useful Tether, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to tethers, and has for its object to provide asimple and portable device for staking or tethering cattle Whilegrazing, the same having means whereby the extent of range may be variedto suit the conditions and requirements ofv use.

Further objects and advantages of this in-v vention will appear in thefollowing description, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointed outv in the appended claim.

In the drawings,'Figure 1 is a view of a tether constructed inaccordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail view of the stationaryhitching member.

Similar reference characters indicate correspending parts in bothfigures of the drawings.

1 represents a Wheeled truck having a longitudinal beam 2, tothe frontend of vwhich is attached a clevis or staple 3, through which may bedriven a securing-stake 4. Rising from the truck is a standard 5, in thebifurcated upper end of which is mounted a windlass having a drum (i, tothe spindle of which is attached a crank-arm 7.

v Above the drum 6 is a direction pulley or roller 8, over which arunner or tether rope 9 passes, said rope being provided With aplurality of spaced stops l0. To brace the standard 5, I employ lateralguy-ropes 11, extending to stakes V12, and a front guy-rope 13,extending to the upper end of the stake et, the upper extremities ofsaid guy-ropes being attached to suitable staples on the standard; also,a suitable ratchet device, consisting of a pawl 14, engagingratchetteeth on the drum, may be employedfor holding the latter at thedesired adjustment or with the `runner at the desired tension. The otherend of the runneris attached to an upright 15, braced by suitable guys16, extending to'stakes 17. Mounted upon the runner, between the spacedstops, are travelers 18, with Which may be engaged halter ropes orstraps of tethered animals,

I and it will be understood that these travelers are adapted to traversethe runner between the stops to give a limited amount of freedom to theanimal; also, in connection with the runner I -preferably employ one ormore bitching-rings 19, of plural-coil construction, having terminaleyes which are engaged, respectively, with the runner. The loop of abridle-rein may be readily engaged with this hitching-ring by extendingthe loop through tween the sides of the bridle-rein, and finallyengaging it over the upper side of the ring, as indicated in Fig. 2. Ahitch of this kind cannot be' disengaged by a strain applied to the bodyportion of the ring; but by grasping the portion of the loop adjacent toone side of the ring and drawing it across the ring the rein disengagesreadily. To prevent the sliding movement of this bitching-ring upon therunner, I preferably engage one terminal eye thereof with a fixed eye20, formed in the runner, and this runner-eye serves to support one sideof the loop of the-bridle-rein which is engaged with the ring. Thereforeto disengage the bridle-rein readily from the ring it is simplynecessary to grasp it at a point adjacent to said supporting runner-.eyeand draw the loop laterally, as toward the left in the constructionillustrated, across the ring.

The device embodying my invention is of simple construction and may bearranged in any desired position to facilitate the grazing of the stockWhile retaining them under sufcient restraint, and when not in use therunner may be reeled upon the drum and the stakes may be suitablysupported upon the truck to enable the device to be transported.

Various changes in the form, proportion, 'and the minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- In a tether, thecombination with a liexible runner having an eye 20,of a bitching-ring19 of plural-coil construction, having its extremities spaced apart andprovided with eyes of which one is engaged ywith theeye 20 of therunner, and the other with the adjacent body the ring, thence passing itdownwardly be-` IOO portion of the runner, the intermediate p0rmy own Ihave hereto affixed my signature in tion of one of the coils, betweensaid terminal the presence of two Witnesses. eyes, being adapted forengagement. by the loop ofthe bridle-rein, of which the downwardmovement is cheeked by the eye 20, subsin- Witnesses:

Linlly :ls specified. J. F. BARBER, In testimony that I claim theforegoing; :is J. M. KIDD.

' ANDERSON LITTLE.

